Hungarian Government Seizes $45,000,000 from Jews in Transylvanian Capital

The extent to which the pro-Nazi Hungarian Government is enriching itself at the expense of Jews whose property and homes have been seized is indicated in Hungarian newspapers reaching here today.

One paper reports that in the city of Nagyvarad (Oradea), the capital of Transylvania, Jews reported property valued at 180,000,000 pengoes (approximately $35,000,000) while the municipal authorities claim that they discovered additional property worth 50,000,000 pengoes (approximately $10,000,000). Jews were ordered to “report” their property preparatory to confiscation. About 25,000 Jews have been concentrated in a ghetto in Nagyvarad, which was transferred from Rumania to Hungary in 1940.

Minister of Finance Remenyi Schneller, speaking at Baja, assailed the “greed” of persons anxious to enrich themselves as a result of the anti-Jewish campaign. Denouncing those people who wish to be given Jewish property, he said that the nation will use it for “national purposes.” He urged persons in possession of Jewish property, no matter how obtained, to report it to the government.

The Hungarian Telegraph Bureau reported today that the time limit for Budapest Jews to move into ghettos has been extended two days to June 24 “for technical reasons.” Further restrictions have been imposed upon these Jews who have already moved into the ghettos, which are located in the suburbs of the capital. In Ujpest and Rakospalota Jews may only shop between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays and not at all on week-ends and holidays. The mayors of both suburbs have also asked the police to forbid Jews working in war factories to leave their homes after working hours.

Budapest newspapers quote Lazlo Body, deputy mayor of Budapest, as stating that 112,620 Jews in Greater Budapest have already exchanged their ration cards for “Jewish cards” which restrict purchases. He said that 10,467 Jews have applied for exemption from the anti-Jewish laws, of whom 7,479 received approval.

Meanwhile, Zoltan Bosnyak, head of the Institute for Jewish Research, is continuing his campaign for expulsion of all Jews from the country. Bosnyak is reported in the Budapest press to have stated that “segregation of Jews in ghettos cannot bring a successful solution of the Jewish problem. Jews must be moved far away from us to some entirely isolated part of the earth.”